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Universal Controller 6.6.0.0 Release Notes

Universal Controller release 6.6.0.0 contains the following high-level features; for a complete list of all the included features and fixes, please refer to the Universal Controller 6.6.x Maintenance list.

Attach Local Files to an Email​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-03133

Ability to attach local files as email attachment

This addresses the requirement to allow file attachments for Email tasks and also now supports binary files (such as pdfs) as attachments for Email Tasks and Email Notifications.

Previously restrictions existed because file attachments to Email Notifications were treated as output objects which did not support binary file types. Similarly email Tasks do not have a relationship with an agent and so were unable to fetch a remote file to attach.

To allow these capabilities customers can drop the required file attachments into a directory defined by a New opswise property to define a "single" directory location where files can be attached from. This is not configurable from the UI for security reasons, this should be enabled by the system admin rather than the UC admin. Every 10 minutes the opswise.properties will be read and if the opswise.email.attachments.local.path has changed, the new value in the opswise.properties will then be used within the Controller.

The files to be attached would need to be on a file system accessible to all Universal Controller cluster nodes within the HA configuration so that regardless of which cluster node is Active, the file can still be accessed.

Customers will be responsible for delivering files to the specified local email directory, and for maintaining (i.e. deleting) files in this directory. Customers should also be aware that all Email tasks (and potentially other types of tasks) will be able to access files in this directory.

Once the opswise.email.attachments.local.path has been set, the option to "Attach Local File" will be available in the Email Notifications and Email Tasks.

Bundle and Promote Security​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09939

Business Services Security and Visibility for Bundles

In order to allow more granular administration bundles can now be assigned to business services and a new user / group permission type for "Bundle" has been added to control how users can interact with Bundles. The existing "ops_bundle_admin" remains to provide global access to the bundle feature.

B-09938

Business Services Security and Visibility for Promotion Targets

In order to allow more granular administration promotion targets can now be assigned to business services and a new user / group permission type for "Promotion Target" has been added to control how users can interact with promotion targets. The existing "ops_promotion_admin" remains to provide global access to the promotion targets.

B-10286

Optionally allow bundle-less promotion for users without ops_promotion_admin role

To augment the features delivered in B-09938 and B-09939 a new system property "Bundleless Promotion With Execute Permission Permitted" has been added to optionally allow promotion of definitions outside of a bundle without requiring the ops_promotion_admin role.

By default this property is "false", meaning that the Promote… action is disabled unless a user has the ops_promotion_admin role. For a user with the ops_promotion_admin role, the Promote… dialog allows selection of any pre-existing promotion target.

When the property is set to "true", the Promote... action will be available to users who have "execute"permission to at least one promotion target. Again, for a user with the ops_promotion_admin role, the Promote… dialog allows selection of any pre-existing promotion target.

Calendar and Trigger Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-06728

Calculate Observed Public Holidays

This provides the ability to support "observed" public holidays without the need for a custom day list of dates. For example if July 4th falls on a Saturday the observed July 4th would be Friday July 3rd and if July 4th falls on a Sunday the observed July 4th would be Monday July 5th.

B-09506

Time Trigger expanded to include "Week" as a Complex Qualifier

For Example "Run on 1st Business Day of week".

warning

A Time Trigger using "Week" Date Qualifier may skip qualifying times when using certain complex restrictions.

1.Create a Time Trigger with "Complex" Day Style using the following:

Day Adjective: Every
Date Noun: Day
Date Qualifier: Week
Date Adjustment: NoneÂ

2.List Qualifying Times for trigger. This should should list times for every day of the week.
3.Add Complex Restriction to Time Trigger from step 1 using the following:

Action: Do Not TriggerRestriction 
Adjective: Every
Restriction Noun: Sunday
Restriction Qualifier: Week*Â 
<
  1. List Qualifying Times for trigger. This should list times for every day except Sunday; however, the List will only show times until the next Sunday.

* Month, Year also exhibit the problem. The work-around is to use "Simple" Day Style if possible instead of "Complex" Day Style. For example, Daily instead of Every Day of Week.

B-03218

Run Criteria expanded to include "Week" as a Complex Qualifier

For Example "Skip on 1st Business Day of Week".

B-07357

Custom Days (Relative Repeating Date) Add “Last Day” & “Last Business Day” to the When Clause

For Example "Run 2 Business Days before the Last Day of the Month".

B-04047

Automatic purging of old Custom Day dates from Date List

A new System Property has been added to allow customers to automatically purge old dates in a Custom Day of type Date List. If the System Property “Purge Dates From Custom Day List Older Than” is set, then after midnight when the log is rolled over, part of the post log rollover will now purge any dates out of Custom Day (Date List) that are older than the number of days set as the System Property value.

For example, if the System Property is set to 7, then any dates older than 7 days will be automatically removed from Date List - Custom Days.

B-07148

Add Nth and Nth Amount to Time Trigger Restrictions - Complex Restriction - Adjective

In the Restrictions section of the Time Trigger Definition you could previously specify 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, First and Last. Support has been added for Nth and Nth amount.

For example, this will enable restrictions for 10th Day of Month.

B-09498

New System Property to Control the Minimum Frequency in Seconds for a Time Interval on a Time Trigger

New System Property "Time Trigger Minimum Frequency in Seconds". This allows customers to restrict the creation of new Time Triggers with a time Interval less that the value specified in this property.

File Monitor Task Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-03621

Be able to specify a minimum file size for Monitor Type = Create

When monitoring for new files with the File Monitor Task you can now optionally also specify "Minimum File Size" and the "Minimum File Scale" (i.e.Bytes, KB, or MB) as an additional filter criteria. This means that when a new file matching the "Monitor Files" criteria is found, the File Monitor will wait until the file also meets the Minimum File Size" specification is met.

New Output Functions and Out Retrieval Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-03412

Add function to retrieve predecessor task output by specific line.

Two new functions have been added to allow access to specific lines from a task's output. As with the existing task output functions you will need to both Retrieve the output automatically and check the Wait for Output option to ensure that the task's output is available for processing.

These functions can be used in task set variable actions to allow access to specific lines from the output of a task.

${_outputLines('outputType', startLine, numberOfLines[, 'defaultValue', 'resultDelimiter'])} or for sibling tasks ${_outputLinesFromTask('siblingName', 'outputType', startLine, numberOfLines[, 'defaultValue', 'resultDelimiter'])}

For Example STDOUT Contains:

License_OS_Type UNIX
License_Type DEMO
License_Expiration_Date 2020.04.30 YYYY.MM.DD
License_NT_Servers 10000
License_UNIX_Servers 10000
License_OS400_Servers 10000
License_OS390_Servers 10000
License_OS390_Unix_Servers 10000
License_Key B1E9-AABD-E59A-8079-30BF-3B17-2E67-8D21

A set Variable Action For Status Success uses the new function:

And the Global Variable is set as follows:

${_outputLinesByRegex('outputType', 'regexPattern'[, maxCount, numberOfLinesBefore, numberOfLinesAfter, 'defaultValue', 'resultDelimiter'])} or for sibling tasks ${_outputLinesByRegexFromTask('siblingName', 'outputType', 'regexPattern'[, maxCount, numberOfLinesBefore, numberOfLinesAfter, 'defaultValue', 'resultDelimiter'])}

For Example STDOUT Contains:

License_OS_Type UNIX
License_Type DEMO
License_Expiration_Date 2020.04.30 YYYY.MM.DD
License_NT_Servers 10000
License_UNIX_Servers 10000
License_OS400_Servers 10000
License_OS390_Servers 10000
License_OS390_Unix_Servers 10000
License_Key B1E9-AABD-E59A-8079-30BF-3B17-2E67-8D21

A set Variable Action For Status Success uses the new function:

And the Global Variable is set as follows:

B-05005

Automatic output retrieval only on task failure

This enhancement introduces a new check box "Failure Only" for task types that support automatic output retrieval. If the Failure Only option is checked the automatic output retrieval will only occur if the task status is FAILED (or transitions through a FAILED status).

New Security Roles​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09347

Service Role and Complementing Administration Roles

New security roles have been added to facilitate the setup of a "service" user who can be enabled to administrate and maintain the UC product to perform tasks such as upgrading, applying maintenance, configuration of system properties, etc. without needing the ops.admin role and consequently without access to workload definitions and task instance data.

ops_service

The user will be able to log in and view their home (default) dashboard, which contains a System Details widget, a Clu

ops_ldap_admin

The LDAP Settings administration role, when assigned, will give a user Read, and Update permission for the LDAP Settin

ops_oms_admin

The OMS Servers administration role, when assigned, will give a user Create, Update, and Delete permission for OMS Ser

ops_property_admin

The Properties administration role, when assigned, will give a user Read, Update and Delete permission for the Propert

ops_server_operation_admin

The Server Operations administration role, when assigned, will permit a user to Run any Server Operation. This role is

ops_sso_admin

The Single Sign-On Settings administration role, when assigned, will give a user Read, and Update permission for the S

Other existing Roles that may be relevant to the ops_service function:

  • ops_audit_view
  • ops_universal_template_admin

On Delete Validation for Credentials​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09385

Add on-delete validation for credentials

Deleting a Credential is now prohibited if any references exist for the Credential.

Results Set Processing (*Change in Default Behavior*)​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09427

Add support for decimals to Task "Result Set Processing" comparison operators (>, >=, <, <=).

For the greater than (>), greater than or equal (>=), less than (<), and less than or equal (<=) operators, the Universal Controller, by default, will now attempt to parse the String values as floating point values, rather than integer values, allowing proper numerical comparison when the values being compared are both floating point values, or a combination of integer and floating point values.

While this is a behavior change from previous releases, we believe this would be the expected behavior and have made it the default.

The following functionality in the Universal Controller relies on this functionality and should be regression tested. The regression testing should not be limited to the above operators, but all supported operators for the specific feature being regression tested.

  • Email Monitor Task Instance > Content Processing
  • SQL Task Instance > Result Processing
  • Stored Procedure Task Instance > Result Processing
  • Variable Monitor Instance > Value Condition
  • Web Service Task Instance > Response Processing
  • Run Criteria > Variable

SAP Connection Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09940

SAP Connection Enhancement - New Options added to SAP Connection Form

The SAP Connection form has been enhanced to include the following SAP Connection Parameters, so that customers no longer have to use the RFC configuration file (sapnwrfc.ini) to specify these parameters.

  • SAPROUTER
  • SNC_LIB
  • SNC_MODE
  • SNC_MYNAME
  • SNC_PARTNERNAME
  • SNC_QOP
  • SNC_SSO
  • MYSAPSSO2
  • X509CERT
  • USE_SYMBOLIC_NAMES

Server Operations​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-10115

List/Download Opswise log files via the Client GUI

New Server Operation that lists the available "opswise log" files for the current cluster node and allows the user to select one or more logs for download to their local machine for viewing.

UI Changes / Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-10224

Relabeling of the Shorted Estimated End Time, and Longest Estimated End Time, for consistency.

In the Task Instance the computed estimated end times were previously displayed as Shortest Estimated End Time, and Longest Estimated End Time. For consistency with the Task Definition these have been relabeled to Lowest Estimated End Time and Highest Estimated End Time.

B-10217

Add simple search to Configuration - Properties List Grid

The Configuration Properties List has been enhance to provide a "simple search" filtering option.

Universal Task Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-08870

Array Field Support

New Universal Template Field Type to support input of name value pairs in Universal Tasks. Also includes the following new functions:

convertArrayFieldFieldVariable
Provides formating options for the array string.

getArrayFieldVariableValue
Returns the value from a specific name.

B-06366

Choice Field, Allow Empty

When using the Choice Fields in a Universal Template you can now allow an empty choice. The Universal Template Field form will display a new Allow Empty Choice checkbox when the Choice field type is selected.

When using this option users of the generated Universal Task will be able to clear this field in the form, also a blank selection will be available from the choice drop down.

The variable associated with this field will return a null value if blank is selected.

B-06294

Conditionally Required Fields

When defining Fields in the Universal Template you can now make the fields conditionally required based on the specific value of a Boolean field now as well as the previously available Choice field.

Variables​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-05636

Increase supported variable value length from 1024 to 4000.

The maximum size for a variable value can now be specified up to 4000 characters in length.

B-10166

New Task Instance Variables for Task Statistics

We have introduced four new built-in variables for a task instance, specifically, ops_user_estimated_end_time, ops_avg_estimated_end_time, ops_highest_estimated_end_time, and ops_lowest_estimated_end_time, which resolve to the task instance User Estimated End Time, Average Estimated End Time, Highest Estimated End Time, and Lowest Estimated End Time, respectively, in the server's time zone.

For example,

${ops_user_estimated_end_time} > 2018-10-16 15:01:54 -0400
${ops_avg_estimated_end_time} > 2018-10-16 15:01:45 -0400
${ops_highest_estimated_end_time} > 2018-10-16 15:01:45 -0400
${ops_lowest_estimated_end_time} > 2018-10-16 15:01:44 -0400

If the date/time value for any of the above is NULL, the variable will remain unresolved, consistent with other date/time built-in variables.

You can use the ${_resolve(...)} function to force resolution, for example.

${_resolve("ops_user_estimated_end_time", "")}
${_resolve("ops_avg_estimated_end_time", "")}
${_resolve("ops_highest_estimated_end_time", "")}
${_resolve("ops_lowest_estimated_end_time", "")}

Virtual Resource Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09853

Virtual resource order processing optimizations

A number of optimizations have been implemented to improve the performance for Virtual Resource Processing where tasks are associated with large numbers of Virtual Resources:

  • Creation of virtual resource events consolidated into VirtualResourceEvent helper methods for easier maintainability and better visibility.
  • Additional logging for debugging purposes.
  • Number of queries invoked by order check event handling reduced.
  • Queuing enhanced to allow avoiding duplicate events to be added, specifically, the virtual resource order check events, allowing a single check to be executed for multiple order requests and return events.
  • De-coupling of order request event processing thread(s) from other virtual resource event handling to allow for improved order creation throughput.
  • Dispatching of Resource Wait event immediately in order check event handling rather than after event completion.

Web Service API Enhancements​

Backlog

Title

Description

B-10167

Support 'inheritance' property for Actions in the Create Workflow RESTful API request

Supports creation of Workflows with Workflow Level Actions via the Web Service Create Workflow API

B-09857

List Task Instance Variables (Show Variables)

New Web Service RESTful API to return task instance variables. Provides API access to the "Show Variables" feature in the user interface.

B-09771

Delete Scheduled Bundle Promotion

New Web Service RESTful API to delete a currently scheduled bundle promotion.

B-10124

Cancel Scheduled Bundle Promotion

New Web Service RESTful API to cancel a currently scheduled bundle promotion.

B-08515

API CRUD & List for Universal Task Templates

New Web Service RESTful API to Create, Read, Update, Delete, and List Universal Task Templates.